Toshiba upgrades 650W SiC shottky diodes with up to 12A

Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor & Storage Products Company has expanded its family of 650V silicon carbide (SiC) schottky barrier diodes (SBD) to include insulated TO-220F-2L package products. The four additional devices make up the 6A, 8A, 10A and 12A line-up.

SBDs are designed for applications including server power supplies and power conditioners for photovoltaic power generation systems. According to Toshiba's survey, SBDs can also act as replacements for silicon diodes in switching power supplies, where they are 50 per cent more efficient.

Figure 2: TO-220F-2L package dimensions. Source: Toshiba

The devices are fabricated using SiC, a wide-bandgap semiconductor that equips SBDs with high breakdown voltage, which is claimed to have never been possible with silicon SBDs. Being unipolar devices, SiC SBDs have very short reverse recovery time and temperature-independent switching behaviour, making them the ideal replacements for Si fast-recovery diodes (FRDs) to improve power supply efficiency.

SiC power devices boast more stability than current silicon devices—even at high voltages and currents—as they significantly reduce heat dissipation during operation. They meet diverse industry needs for smaller, more effective communications devices and suit industrial applications ranging from servers to inverters.